I was awarded the position of 2023 Best Crisis Communication Leader by way of Davos WCFA judges’ evaluation of my work and practices executed as CCO of ELES, a government-owned combined transmission and distribution system operator of the Republic of Slovenia. I know how stressed and endangered communicators can be in times of crisis. I want to share vital lessons to make crisis practices friendlier to us communicators and citizens/customers.
The first and most important lesson I’ve learned is that if an organization doesn’t have a professional and advanced IT team, you should leave because your results rely on them. Many reasons are usually behind the “we don’t want or need changes” mindset favored by these organizations; for instance, unethical companies or some of their IT employees may have accepted a kickback when selecting vendors, resulting in the selection of less suitable programs and solutions. In other cases, a less advanced IT department may need to gain experience with a problem and be afraid to admit it. They then react poorly by remaining at a level that they can handle. Again, in many other cases, IT staff may have silently participated in the concurrence and intentionally loosened system security out of self-interest.
In times of crisis, the communicators hold the public baton of information, blame/guilt and solutions. In practice, however, many general and managing directors often go on vacation and don’t return to their jobs because it benefits them to be absent. This allows them to not take full responsibility for the situation.
Why does crisis communication matter? Take, for example, the July 2024 software outage linked to Microsoft Systems (the most extensive IT outage ever). As of this article’s publication, adequate and effective communication has stalled. Instead of sorting things out through orderly messaging and properly segmenting them through information, the chaos among users was/is getting bigger and bigger.
Windows computers worldwide have been crashing, and affected companies and institutions mostly failed in communications. Many users got stuck with blue screen BSO, self-service machines, operator lines for 911 were out, and systems of airports and hospitals crashed all from India, New Zealand, Asia, the USA and Europe.
The systems crashed quickly, and mass notification systems orchestrated by a primary focus on crisis communications failed in too many countries and corporations. Airports were full of people, and there was chaos in the hospitals worldwide; if, for instance, the electricity outages accompany the “IT drama,” then the proper mass notification is urgent because it literally saves lives.
So, what are the most crucial crisis mass communication basics for this kind of (worldwide or regional-local) IT (and electricity) outages?
When preparing the strategy for how to communicate (and manage) different risks, primarily define the stakeholder’s groups (who are targeted audiences, what is the crucial message, how will you deliver the messages) and then form the public information messages (use the appropriate format and situationally appropriate information, use trusted representatives, universal symbols and pictures, structure the messages and convey for every channel planned for public informing).
When defining the groups, don’t forget about the:
- Individuals not speaking/reading your official language.
- Mentally disabled.
- Developmentally disabled.
- Visually impaired.
- Cognitive impaired.
- Hearing impaired.
- People who have speech disabilities.
- Mobility challenged.
- The incarcerated (in jail or with limited legal capability).
- Homeless-medically or chemically dependent.
- Elderly.
- Culturally and geographically isolated.
Planning for crises and preparing a detailed mass notification system is not an option but a mandatory function. Fiduciary responsibilities and reputation disruptions, not to mention the possibility of endangering human lives or their everyday safety, are not an option or a trend. It’s an obligatory necessity where top managers’ professionalism will/must result in:
- Finding and building teams with unbeatable professionals.
- Setting the complete strategy as a requirement of emergency management, crisis communication and mass notification planning.
- Sending accurate key messages on time.
- Setting protocols and plans for delivering emergency communication services to customers/citizens.
Our responsibility is to protect people in any possible way, especially from systemic errors. More importantly, crisis communication should not exacerbate systemic inequalities
